Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi said that Osama Bin Laden and his followers are to be blamed for the protests racking his country. Making his public appearance for the third time in a week in a bid to mobilise support, Gaddafi went on state television and said the uprising against his regime is not a people's revolt in the style of Egypt and Tunisia, but inspired by Osama bin Laden's outfit. In a phone call addressed to residents of the town of al-Zawiya, Col Gaddafi said young people were being duped with drugs and alcohol to take part in “destruction and sabotage”. Col Gaddafi is battling to shore up control of Tripoli and western areas. Meanwhile, swathes of the east of Libya have fallen to opposition control and others descended into chaos and lawlessness with many army officers defecting to join the uprising. Over 300 people have been killed in the 10-day unrest. BBC quoted witnesses as saying the town of Zuara, 120 km west of the capital Tripoli, has reportedly become the latest to fall to the opponents of 68-year-old Gaddafi. There were no police or soldiers left in Zuara, . In the eastern city of Benghazi, residents have been queuing to be issued guns looted from the army and police in order to join what they called the battle for Tripoli . However, the regime continued to unleash a crackdown in the capital city where, according to witnesses, 'militias' roamed around the streets to target protesters. They said Tripoli is heavily guarded by pro-Gaddafi forces, with tanks deployed in the suburbs. Thousands of foreigners have successfully been evacuated from Libya, while others have hit snags at the country's airports and ports. The U.S. State Department issued a strong warning yesterday to U.S. citizens in Libya to ‘depart immediately.’ Thousands of foreigners remain at Tripoli's airport while others are traveling overland to neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt to escape the chaos that has erupted from an opposition revolt and a government crackdown. South Asian nations also prepared evacuation plans for tens of thousands of their citizens working in Libya, many as low-paid labourers on construction sites.